Most of us have seen the Shade and the rules, but how many of you have played against one? I don't hear of it being used a lot in tournaments, and only one person I know uses one (And he's an employee. We don't play very often). Now, I've used one, and its points, I think it's a steal. It nearly nullified the goblin's greatest weakness, while they still had all their strengths. And you can still mass the numbers in there, especially in high point games, where the model limit is still only 75.

Anyway, for those of you who have played against one, what did you find yourself doing? How did you counter the Shade's strength? How did the match(es) end? Did it make a huge impact on the game, or was it just "meh?"

And for everyone else, how WOULD you compete against an army with a Shade? Don't assume they can't have good heroes like Wraiths at the same time, either, because evil's all about the frightening heroes/creatures while still being able to hit near max numbers. Like, from the get-go, what would you do? Would your list be focused more on numbers, elites, or heroes? What would your tactics be? Would you try and shoot it to death, or just rush in and hope for the best? Obvious, the tactics are scenario dependent, but in general, what would you do?

If anyone's checked out my thread in Army Help, you'll see the relevance of this post, but still, I think it's a good reference for One-Ring to have.

Personally, I'm putting in a lot of numbers with high defense, and hoping to win a war of attrition. Anyone within the shade's radius would focus more on defense, while I'd shift my offense to unaffected areas and try to push through. I also plan on having a cavalry contingent to sneak around and try to heckle, if not kill, the dang thing, if they're not off doing other scenario-relevant things.

Your tactics, One-Ring?

I take it we all just avoid playing against people with Shades, then? Fair enough.

Never played against one, I'd just simply try to flank it with some good elves/khazard guards, or any other elites

Until I saw the last part of your sentence, I was about to ask "What if I'm not playing as Elves or Dwarves?"

Then your in toruble but onto your topic..

Well they don't tend to get on board sonce they are very costy little fellas... And how to kill one? Well as I'm using Aragorn I think 2-3 combats with Shade would kill it.

Just send some kinda storng hero against it and it's finished OR wait until the army breaks and then the Sahde is gone for good courage of 1

Though shade is a strong defnce little fella who just standes and " " all the fighting to your opponent...

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I am the Mouth of Sauron, here him speak'

The problem is getting to the Shade. In say, 700 points, you can get a Shade, a named wraith, and a captain or two and still hit almost maximum numbers with orcs. From what I see, you guys think taking it out in combat is the best way to go. Not wasting your bowfire, I see?

It may seem silly to shoot down the Shade, but the only time I lost one while fielding it was to massed Harad shooting. So it's not impossible.

But no good general is going to leave the Shade unprotected, or let you sit in combat with it for a bunch of turns. I suppose breaking their force really is the best way to go about it...

I've played against a Shade once. However, the army wasn't really designed to take advantage of him. There were many other high price models on the board and he just didn't have the numbers to make good use of it. In the end, it turned out to be a non-factor.

Now in an army like you are talking about, with Goblins, it could be a huge asset.

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There and Blog Again ...

Indeed. Since in a 500 point game, you can spend like, 265 points on models, like a wraith, a shade, a captain/shaman, etc. and then make max numbers anyway. Orcs are only a fraction more expensive than goblins, and they have the F3 to make it all the worse.

What I did was guard my shade, using 4 or 5 goblins and making good use of their control zones, to surround him and prevent him from being engaged. I'm assuming many opponents will do the same.

Bow fire on shade? well I would't do that... Since like when I shoot the main body and the less the opponent has basic troops the less is the chance that he can protect his shade...

Well and SINCE I am using GC & Dunharrow + Basic Aragorn then... I think that I could ignore the wraiths magic AND the free heroic fight called by Aragorn could prove to be invaluable to fight with shade/wraith..
and charging Araforn with orc cap would be just silly

THough I wouldnt focus on shade...not on the wraith I would try to bring the numbers down as soon as possible...

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I am the Mouth of Sauron, here him speak'

I've been sitting here for a while and got no where so I'll share my thoughts

If I was using Gandalf, I would sorcerous blast the models in front of the shade into it or compel the critter away (whilst resisting any sap will spells from Nazgul)

I wouldn't use bowfire on it, but rather kill all those annoying orcs. Any cavalry I'd have I'd use once both forces were engaged and hope to crush at least one flank.

You could also force your opponent to split their forces by deploying yours in two groups. They either have to split or face one half of your army from the front and the other from behind.

Breaking the enemy is your best bet however if the chance arises to harm their Shade then take it

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The Southern Fiefdoms: http://www.one-ring.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=21928

I've played against a shade quite a lot recently,

since I (luckily) play dwarves + elves I try and keep the high D models in the shades aura so they are less likely to be killed when the fight is lost

I then concentrate bow fire on it once the lines have met, its elevated position makes it viewable from my archers, this worries the opponent as 14 elf shots (3 with might) can harm it and with no fate it isn't hard to bring down.

Usually once its gone the weak goblins infront of it die quick and Gimli/Dain just break through and take out shamans/wraiths.